


Mutual Affinities Of Organic Beings

by dancinginthisworldalone



Category: Transformers - All Media Types, Transformers: Prime
Genre: F/M, Gen, Other, i know that sierra is the captain of the cheer squad but like, idk man, mostly a self indulgent character insert, slowburn
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-04-23
Updated: 2019-04-28
Packaged: 2020-01-23 12:13:36
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 8,314
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18549553
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dancinginthisworldalone/pseuds/dancinginthisworldalone
Summary: Lauren Garcia has like... A Lotᵀᴹ going on for her in her senior year. Getting caught with all these... alien robot drama is like, the last thing she wants.Too bad there's nothing she can do. Primeverse.





	1. E Minor, D69/F#

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> she decides to do something decent at the wrong time. chaos ensues.

**Mutual Affinities of Organic Beings**

\--

**Chapter 1: E Minor, D69/F#**

**\--**

Lauren wrinkled her nose in annoyance as Vince tore out of Knock-Out Burger's drive-thru. She spares a glance at the rear-view mirror and sees the shrinking figure of the poor cashier they just messed with, leaning out of the drive-thru window, most likely calling after them.

She voted against their ingenious little prank earlier _(Drive-thru ditch? Really, Vincent?)_ , but Vince seemed to have some beef against that-- _Jake?_ kid and couldn't be talked out of it otherwise. And she'd really rather not suffer being teased by her friends that she’s ruining their fun again. So with nothing but a scowl, she grudgingly agreed to get in on this prank... crime... _thing_ . _What_ ever.

She’s starting to get a headache. Leaning on the cold side-door window can only be so comforting.

She would have been content to be a silent accomplice. Really, she would rather take a nap. Anything but eat the food they technically stole. But Vincent kept shaking the brown paper-bag just inches away from her face, despite her repeatedly asking him to stop.

Plus, the song he’s blasting from the car stereo is making her headache worse.  
  
“I want out,” She says, barely audible as the song slowly reached the bridge with a barrage of out-of-tune drum beats.

Vince continued to shake the paper bag at her. The damned jerk is doing it just to annoy her at this point.

“I said I want out!” She snaps, fist pounding on the dashboard in front of her.

Vince stepped a little too hard on the breaks, making the asphalt underneath the tires screech. Their friends in the backseat-- Megan, her boyfriend… _Keith_? and Calvin went quiet.

The only sound inside the car was the last few chords of whatever that pretentious punk was. Vince reached out quickly to turn off the stereo.

She can see a tick in his jaw.

“What?” He exhales, slowly turning to face her. “What did you say?”

“I’m done. We’re over. I’m breaking up with you. Let me out of the car.”

Vincent sputtered. “I – what- you- no! You can’t break up with me!”

She rolls her eyes. “Fine. Whatever. _You’re_ breaking up with _me_ . I’m _abs_ olutely devastated. Smell ya later. Bye.”

Lauren then moved to take off the seat belt, exit the car, and slung her backpack on one shoulder in one fluid motion. She must have looked awesome, she thinks, doing a dramatic exit like that, all the while ignoring the looks her friends are giving her.

She was already a good few feet away when she hears the sound of a car door slamming shut, immediately followed by: "Wait-- let’s-don't-we can talk about this-- no-- Lo... Lauren! Lauren!"

She stopped in her tracks and risked looking back. Vince actually stepped out of his car. First time he did during a fight.

 _Was_ he gonna chase after her?

Does she want him to?

She turned away from him again, not really caring whether he does so or not. She just put one foot in front of the other, ignoring him calling out to her. At this point, all she wants to do walk back down town where Knock Out Burger is. She hopes that she’s got enough spare change in her pockets to pay what they owed.

\--

It turns out that she’d just missed the kid from earlier, and the elderly lady currently manning the counter, who’s red name tag read ‘Hi! I'm Grace!’ was new, so she wasn’t quite sure what his name was either.

Lauren’s shoulder sagged. She can’t believe she’s skipped out on cheer practice for that stupid prank. Now she’s walked at least an entire kilometer back to this stupid place, and she just broke up with her ride home. Coach Holly would definitely have her ass tomorrow on cheer practice.

Grace let out a small cough, pulling Lauren from her thoughts. Grace motioned slightly at the menu board above her head. Lauren snorted. She doesn’t leave Knock Out Burger until she finished her large fries and coke.

She also leaves a little tip for Grace.

Just because.

 

\--

Lauren almost dreaded what will happen tomorrow. She wondered how soon the news will reach the entire school... She’d been together with Vince for a little over six months, and they've already, more or less, made plans for senior prom.

She was sprawled on her bed, trying to win a staring contest with the ceiling, avoiding logging in to her computer as she can already guess that her MySpace inbox is at the point of explosion. No need guessing what _those_ messages were all about, knowing how whiny Vince actually is despite the ‘bad boy’ facade…

Her bedroom, pastel pink in the daytime, is currently shrouded in grey-black shadows, and the cherry-blossom patterned blackout curtains her dad bought for her was drawn shut, with only a sliver of orange lamp-post light peeking in from outside. Her arm flops to the bed, blindly groping for the cool metallic feel of her phone. There were few texts and missed calls from Coach Holly about missing cheer practice. Those were the only ones Lauren replied to. She was still tapping an apology when the the landline’s ringing pierced the silence of the living room.

She checks the time and sees that it was 7:30 pm. Time for her dad’s weekly calls.

Her father being in the army means that she’s used to moving houses almost every year. In fact, the longest that they’ve settled in a single state was their three years in Jasper, Nevada.

She misses her dad. He's been gone for three months and when he called last week, he said that he'll be home before the month is over. _But no promises_. She doesn't even know which country he’s currently at, and every time she asks, he'll deflect it with a joke about confidentiality clauses.

The phone rings again, and she grimaces at how it rubs in her face that she's all alone in their empty house. She gets up to talk to her dad, leaving her cellphone on the bed.

It lights up and vibrates as a few more messages poured in.

**\--**

 

For the first time in years, she groggily got up without pressing the 'ZZZ' icon that represented the snooze option on her bedside alarm clock. She donned her sapphire blue _Memorial High School Cheer Squad_ uniform, and completes the _cheer captain aesthetic_ by styling her long, black hair in a high ponytail.

The rest of the day felt like she was moving against the flow of a slimy river. She walked numbly from one class to another, with yesterday's headache still pounding inside her skull bothering her as well as her sudden… status.

As much as she didn't really miss Vince, she's gotten used to him just within arms reach. Whether he’s waiting outside her classroom, or when he’d pull her in for a kiss inside a supply closet, or if he'd walk her to her next class... it was almost second nature for her to seek out his familiar red hair among the crowd.

Vincent wasn’t in any of his classes. Most likely, he wasn’t even in school. Lauren dug her nails into her palms to distract herself from looking for her ex as she made her way to her locker. He hadn’t chased after her. Hadn’t even called. She wasn’t sure if she _wanted_ him to chase after her, really. Or that breaking up was the right thing to do. But this was far from the first fight that she'd threaten a breakup.

_Guess you got what you wanted now._

She frowned. No good dealing with these kind of thoughts now.

And she hasn't gotten the chance to look for that Jake kid either. Lauren found it difficult to ask around since the only way she can identify him is to describe him as _“that kid with dark hair, about as tall as I am… I think his name is Jake? I don’t know!”_

She also tried to ignore the whispers on the hallway, not that it needed anything beyond holding her chin up high and staring back at anyone with equal measures of disinterest _and_ disgust as if they’re some _thing_ she’s stepped on and that she'll now be wiping them off of the bottom of her shoe. Sure, she might have mellowed out ever since seeing those anti-bullying PSAs, but there’s a reason why Lauren Garcia is still _feared_ in Memorial High School.

It was a gift, looking at a person and knowing just what to say to unravel them like spool.

During lunch, she ducked to the library to avoid Megan. As much as she wants someone to talk to, she can hardly vent to her best friend since she's Vincent's cousin They  were rather close too, despite Vince being a douche most of the time. He'd beat up one of Megan's exes that continued bothering her after breaking up with him a month before.

It also helps, she thinks, that Meg is avoiding her as well. Lauren only saw her twice, always a few feet away, seemingly joined at the hip with her boyfriend Kyle.

The final bell was her salvation, and she’s caught a glimpse of that Jake kid from the fast-food joint just outside her Trigonometry class. He seemed stressed, running his hand through his hair as if it wasn’t messy enough.

She shouldered her backpack, sent the coach a quick message about taking care of something before going to that afternoon’s cheer practice, and moved to follow Jake outside. She pushed open the glass doors and whipped her head around to look for Jake. Lauren finally saw him, talking to that kid with the glasses too big for his face from her History class.

Which, wouldn't be an oddity by itself. It’s a school, after all. There are loads of classes with loads of students. But this kid was like, _ten_ , or something? And he’s in her AP Physics class too? Not that she’s ever talked to him. She doesn’t even know his name. Their longest interaction is when they’d pass each other in the halls and she’d follow him with her eyes until he rounds off in a corner.

“Hey! You! Burger-boy!” She called out, both boys looking at her like they’re about to be road kill. She barely registers a faint voice mimicking, ‘ _Burger-boy’_ as she made her way down the front steps of the school.

“Lo-Lauren! W-what’s up?” Jake's voice cracked near the end. She saw him wince.

“Hello, tiny kid I share classes with,” She said by way of greeting the ten year old kid who’s name she doesn’t know before turning back to Jake and asking, “You work at KO Burger, right?” She waited for him to nod, and then- “What are your names?”

Jake blinked at her. “What?”

“Your name. I don’t _know_ what your name is and I’m asking you. It’s a social thing. People do it when talking to people they don’t know.”

The ten year old from her classes let out a short laugh.

“I… It’s Jack. My name’s Jack. And that’s Raf.” He gestured to the bespectacled kid. Raf gave her a little wave.

She shrugged. _Jake_ was close enough to the name Jack. “Cool. Well, you know who _I_ am. How much did my idiot friends owe you yesterday?”

“What do you-”

“That was you in the drive-thru around… 5-ish? Then they-- well, _we_ , really, because I was inside the car but _swear_ I didn’t know they were gonna freaking ditch, anyway my got some burgers and drove away. That’s a total dick move and I’m trying to… _not_ be a dick. Oh! And nice comeback, by the way. Vince was totally pissed.” She smiled, giving him a thumbs up, hoping it came across as sincere because she _was_ being sincere. “So. How much?”

“F-five fifty-nine,” Jack squeaked. “A-and didn’t you guys break up or something?”

She pulled her backpack to her chest and rummaged to find her wallet. “Yeah. He’s a loser. Let me just get my wallet. Hold on...”

Lauren almost jumped up when she heard two swift honks, followed by Jack groaning out, “Oh, not again!”

Confused, she followed his line of vision and saw the most beautiful car she’s seen in her entire life. Not that she knows much about cars. But she doesn’t have to be a grease monkey to appreciate beauty, and boy, was this car a work of _art._ It was a yellow racing car with black stripes. Highly customized too. Which was a nice contrast since it made the _yellow_ cool. She can’t help but let out a low, appreciative whistle.

“Dude, who’s car is _that_?”

“A friend.” Raf beamed at her before approaching the car.

Lauren let out a soft, “Damn...” when the car door slid up  open with a hiss, and she craned her neck to see who was driving the vehicle when she saw…

No one.

The driver’s seat is empty.

What?

“Why is no one driving that car?” She turned to Jack, her voice a few pitches higher.

“L-lauren, you _have_ to go.” Jack’s voice sounded serious, as he tried to pull her behind him. “Now. You have to go now. I’ll tell you what’s going on soon. Tomorrow, o-or something.”

She wouldn’t budge. “Are you two in danger? What’s going on? Should a teacher be involved-”

Jack let out a strangled, “N-no! No teachers,”

She hears faint beeps that seem to come from inside of the car. It was similar to morse code, in a way that she was sure its supposed to _mean_ something. Lauren frowned.

“It wants us to get in,” Raf said, a little bit louder, looking at them. The car let out another string of beeps. And then, Raf added, “Lauren and me, since she already saw him.”

“Him?” She echoed, looking between the boys with her arms crossed over her chest. “Who’s him? And who said _I’m_ going with you?”

A series of beeps came out from the car’s stereo once again.

Raf looks up at her. “We’ll tell you what’s going on but you _have_ to come with us first.”

“What?” Lauren bleats, but nobody seemed to hear.

“Do I have to get in too?” Jack sighed in resignation.

“No, Just Lauren and I. Yours is over there.” Raf answered, pointing at something behind her. Lauren had no time to look at what Raf had been pointing at as the smaller boy pulled her inside the car with unexpected force.

Raf quickly slid into the driver’s seat, leaving Lauren riding shotgun, once again.  banging on the side-door window in harsh, quick successions.

His voice was muffled, but she can still hear Jack was saying something about bringing in another human into this mess. Before Lauren could ask him what he means, though, a seat belt snaked around her, locking itself, and a panicked yelp escaped from her throat as the car sped off.

“W-what the complete fuck is going on?” She could hardly feel her body shaking as she turned to Raf who seemed… totally at ease, sitting on the driver’s seat with his backpack in his lap. His feet doesn’t even reach down the pedals. “Y-you’re not driving,”

The beeps came again.

“Don’t worry, Bee-”

“T-there’s… there’s a fucking _bee_ ?” She interjects, whipping her head around. The car was empty, save for the two of them, and there’s no telltale buzzing, but her mind’s in a panic now. Lauren started pounding on the window, on the car seat-- anywhere she can reach, really. “Let me out! L-let Me out! Let me-I’m _allergic_ to bees, Raf! Where’s that goddamn-”

“No! No, Lauren this car _is_ Bee! Calm down!” Raf cries out, trying to reach out his hands to her. “His _name_ is Bumble _bee_. Bee is his nickname! There aren’t any bees here!”

 _What_ the fuck?

She froze, turns her head slowly back to the boy. Then binks at him. Once. Twice. “Are you _high_ right now, kid?”

Raf rolls his eyes. “Can you relax? You’re making Bee nervous!”

“ _I'm_ making _him_ nervous? Kid, I can’t even see who this ‘Bee is!”

The car let out a few more strange beeps to which Raf started to giggle slowly, like her outburst is funny. Did this kid _think_ this was funny?

Lauren was fuming. Vince knows she’s terrified of Bees. “Is this a prank? Did Vince pay you to do this just to get back at me?”

The car… Bee? Emitted some more sounds again.

Raf looks at her. “No, this isn’t a prank. Bee doesn’t want you to be scared of him. You have to relax, Lauren. Please?”

She kept her gaze focused on the boy. He seemed too earnest to actually agree being Vince’s henchman. _Hench-kid?_ She lets out a deep breath to settle herself, then leans back further into the car seat with her eyes closed. _‘Breathing exercises,’_ she tells herself. _‘Don’t let them know how fucking terrified you are, Lauren. That’s it… in and out… in and then out…’_

This better be a good reason for her to miss cheer practice again.


	2. Something Here From Somewhere Else

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> she meets the giant robots. dun-dun!

**Mutual Affinities of Organic Beings**

\--

**Chapter 2: Something Here From Somewhere Else**

Riding shotgun, based on Lauren’s experience within the past 24-hours, is starting to suck. Though, looking at Raf take _all_ of what’s going on with a smile on his face seems to help calm her down. A little bit. Because if this ten year old isn’t asking for his mommy yet, then… well.

Raf continued to chat with the car, as weird as that is, and she pretty much got used to Bee answering. At least, she hopes that Bee has been answering, because the thought of being driven deep into the desert badlands with a kid who’s having a conversation with someone she can’t see may not be solved with the pepper spray she has in the bottom of her bag.

“You can understand it,” Lauren says out loud, not so much as asking, as much as she was confirming what she saw. “Right?”

“I do. And it’s _him_ , not it.” Raf corrects her. “You’ll see- oh, what was that, Bee? -Bee said we’ll get meet Optimus Prime, their leader.”

“There’s _more_ of them?”

“Yeah! But aside from Bee I just saw this other one. she’s blue.”

“How many more of them are there?"

Bee answers, and Lauren raised her eyebrows at Raf for a translation.

"Bee says there are five of them."

She blinks. “Party.” 

As silence fell between them, she took the opportunity to look around Bee’s interior. In the center of the steering wheel was a strange symbol of what seemed to be a face, emitting a faint, blue light. It flickers slightly every time Bee would talk. The rest dashboard looked more like a spaceship console rather than a car’s, with various sets of what she thinks are speedometers and a couple of flashing buttons.

She has to admit, the desert drive was kinda relaxing, never mind that they’re going at what seemed like 50 kilometers over the speed limit.

At least, until Lauren notices that they were heading towards a tall rock cliff. It had been looming in the distance, growing bigger and bigger as they got closer. She thought that maybe the car would turn into a corner sooner, but it kept a straight trajectory with no signs of stopping-

They were only a few meters away now...

She opened her mouth and tries to scream… but all she was able to let out were choking noises. She looked to her left to maybe tell Raf she _told_ him so, and that this Bee is gonna drive into the rock formation to kill them, and maybe just give the kid one last comforting hug before they get smashed to death, but the kid has wild excitement in his eyes and was practically vibrating in his seat.

She always did think he was some crazy genius in the making. No normal ten year old would enjoy Advanced Calculus. Her hands flew to her cover her face, bracing for impact.

Which, about ten seconds later, still hasn’t come.

She _did_ feel a slight bump, which jerked her in her seat, and she risked peeking through the gaps of her fingers and found that they were now on some sort of a tunnel road.

“We’re here,” Raf breathed.

The car turned to a corner and slowed down before stopping just at the end of the road. Lauren lets out a shaky breath as she tries to take in the scenery in front of her.

They were inside of what looks to be a hangar.

She looked up and felt her jaw fell to the floor.

There was a robot.

A _robot_.

_holyshitgiantrobotwhatthefuckwhat_ \-- standing at least five times her height, white with red-orange lines that ran across its body. It has a face; close to a human’s but not quite reaching that uncanny valley, and it’s eyes… two rounded LEDs that glowed an eerie shade of blue, seemed to meet hers.

“That’s a robot,” She giggled, slightly strained and bordering on hysterical, because honestly, how does one properly react to seeing something out of sci-fi movies? “R-raf, are you _seeing_ this?”

He didn’t answer her, but she did heard him whisper, “Oh wow…”

Lauren jumped in her place, momentarily tearing her away gaze from the _giant robot oh my gosh what-_ as the seat belt unlatched itself from her, and was shortly followed by Bee’s familiar beeping. The car door then slid upwards. Getting the hint, she gave Bee’s dashboard a few gentle, appreciative pats before climbing out of the car. From the tunnels echoed an engine roar, and she whipped her head just in time to see a motorcycle pulling in and coming into a stop just beside Bee.

Jack was on the motorcycle, and behind him was a girl with pink streaks on her hair, grinning widely. Where did that one come from?

Raf pulled Lauren a few steps away from the yellow muscle car just in time for it… him(?) to fold itself outwards, car parts moving in a blurred  mixture of yellow and black and gray...

Lauren blinked.

Bee, in this form, was as tall as her house, maybe even taller; easily recognizable with the same yellow paint job with black accents. _Maybe that’s why he was named Bumblebee?_ He was shorter than the White one that had been looking at them- _still_ looking at them, apparently.

There was also a blue one, sleek and shiny, smaller than Bumblebee. That must have been the motorcycle Jack and the other girl was on.                            

Lauren starts to feel just a little bit light headed. Her fingers itched for a cigarette, despite the fact that she’s having a slight trouble breathing. She bites the inside of her cheek and smoothes down the pleats of her skirt just so her hands would stop shaking.

“I thought there were two,” The White robot observed gruffly, walking towards a green robot. This one’s ...body? was rounded. Bulky. It’s bright blue eyes flickered in and out in what could have been their version of a blink.

“Haven’t you heard? Humans multiply,” The slender blue bot shrugged, walking off. The voice that came out of it sounded feminine; as much as something(some _one_?) made of what could presumably be metal sound feminine.

Raf started to introduce himself to the other girl, who easily yelled out, “Miko!” and then bounded over to the green one, bombarding it with questions after questions. Its bright blue eyes turned to the White one. Despite lacking human facial features, it was clear that big green was uncomfortable.

"So… if you guys are robots, who made you?" Raf asks innocently.

The white and red robot scoffed _(scoffed!)_ and rolled it’s eyes. “Ugh, _puh_ -leez,” This one sounded male. Masculine, whatever. Kinda old too, she thinks.

Lauren was unable to stop herself from blurting out, “Oh, prissy.”

_Prissy_ narrowed its eyes at her, opening its mouth to say something back when small tremors shook the room. She feared the oncoming neck pains as she once again had to crane her neck  to have a look at the robot who just arrived.

It was red and blue, and was the tallest of all the other robots. In the back of her head, she could just faintly hear the all too familiar notes of the song from this old _Japanese anime_ she used to watch when she was really young. She has half a mind to ask if this robot has a _laser sword_ hidden inside its chest somewhere or if it has a move where it uses a pair of _ultra electro magnetic tops_ …

"We are autonomous robotic organisms from the planet Cybertron." His (Masculine. _Definitely_ masculine) voice rumbled deeply. "Also known as Autobots."

“D-did you say planet, like… not _earth_ kinda planet?” She piped up, and behind her she heard someone grunt. Most likely the prissy one. She chose to ignore him. “Like, _extra_ terrestrial… aliens?”

Big Red nodded.

“Aliens.” She says in a faint, detached way. “Party.”

“Why are you here?” Jack asked, stepping forward.

“To protect your planet. From the Decepticons.” The big guy explained.

“The jokers who tried to bump us off last night?” The blue one added

“Okay…” Jack said slowly. “Why are _they_ here?”

Big Red dropped on one knee, leaning closer towards them, and Lauren felt her face grew warm as she saw his bright blue eyes closer.  Instinctively, she took a step back, her hand shooting off to grab Jack’s arm. The feeling that this giant was staring rather intensely at them was overwhelming.

"A fair question, Jack. In part, they are here because our planet is uninhabitable. Ravaged by centuries of civil war." He answered.

“Why were you fighting a war?” Raf asked.

Big Red hummed. “The war was waged over the control of energon; the fuel and lifeblood of all Autobots and Decepticons alike. The combat was fierce and endured for centuries. In the beginning, I fought alongside one who I considered a brother. But in war, ideals can be corrupted. And it was thus that Megatron lost his way."

Miko lets out a yawn, working like a record-scratch sound bite that ruins the mood. “Is there gonna be a quiz?”

Lauren stares at the younger girl. “Are you serious?”

“What? It’s boring history stuff!”

“He literally just said their home planet was destroyed- and that’s _boring_ to you?”

“Oh? And _you’re_ so good and understanding?” Miko shots back. “You’re a _bully_!”

“How does that even connect- You know what, maybe if your parents loved you a little more, they wouldn’t have dropped you a lot and damaged your head.”

“What did you say, you b-”

“Can the two of you _not_ fight in here, please?” Jack interrupted, moving quickly between the girls. He sends a placating look towards Big Red. “Sorry, uh-about them,”

“Not as sorry as I am about _her_ ,” Lauren said cheerfully.

Jack had to physically restrain Miko from mauling the older girl in front of the robots.

\--

Introductions were quickly made soon after.

Big Red’s name was Optimus Prime, leader of the Autobots. The sleek, blue bot who also moonlights as a motorcycle was Arcee. Bumblebee, of course, she knows, Bulkhead was the well... bulky green bot, and Prissy White’s name was Ratchet, who was the team medic.

"And since you now know of our existence, I fear that as of last night, the Decepticons know of yours." Optimus Prime said.

“Last night?” Lauren repeats, turning to Jack. “What happened last night?”

“We were chased by the decepti _cons_ ,” Jack scratched the back of his head. “On the freeway. Then we found Raf,”

“So that was you guys? On the news...” Lauren looked backed up at the Autobot leader. “Look, Mr. Prime, sir, this is all a big misunderstanding. I _wasn’t_ with them last night. I was just talking to Jack and Raf this _afternoon_ when the car- I mean _Bumblebee_ came. I _didn’t_ see _any_ decepticors, I swear. Can’t I like… go?”

“That may be the case, however-”

“If _she_ wants to leave then let her go,” Miko interjects, sticking her tongue out at Lauren. “She doesn’t get to hang out with cool robots!”

“On second thought, this place _is_ growing on me. Maybe I’ll stay to hide from the mean decepticors,” Lauren says immediately, crossing her arms over her chest. “This is a big place, we can set up a little human friendly area… maybe some bunk beds… and hey! Maybe Miko and I will even be roomies. How _fun_ ,”

“You are ruining this for me!” Miko exclaims, pointing at her, stomping one booted foot.

“Look, we’ll just call 911 if we see any strange vehicles.” Jack offers, stepping in between the girls before it escalates again. “Lauren, do you still wanna go?”

"It will be best if the four of you remain under our watch. At least, until we can determine the intentions of our enemies.” Optimus said firmly

"Optimus," Ratchet began. "With all due respect, the human children are in as much danger here as _anywhere_."

"Children?" Jack echoed.

At the same time, Lauren protested, “I’m eigh _teen_!”

“They have no protective shell!” The shorter bot continued, giving no implication that he heard their protests. “If they get underfoot, they will go… _squish_!" He even went as far as stomping a metal foot for emphasis. The sound echoed through the the empty vastness of the missile silo.

"Then, for the time being Ratchet, we must watch where we step." Optimus answers, like it was the simplest solution there is. Which, granted, it probably was.

 Lauren felt drained. As fun as it was messing with Miko, she really, _really_ didn’t want to be here. Even more so than Jack. She already missed practice twice this week, and she’s behind homework. If she wanted to go to NYU…

“What about school?” She asked, placing a hand on her waist, raising a brow at Optimus. “We can’t disappear in the middle of the year, I mean… I’m a senior. I’m the captain of the cheer squad and I missed today’s practice! Raf has AP classes… Jack has work… Miko’s… well, you guys can keep her here, I don’t really care-,”

A few feet behind her, Miko lets out a loud, “Hey!” which Lauren ignored.

“-but like, we _can’t_ stay here, man.”

“Of course.” Optimus hummed. “But you do not have to worry, young Lauren, as each of you will be assigned a guardian-”

He was interrupted by a low-sounding alarm going off. Green light flickered on and off throughout the base.

“What’s that?” Jack asked.

Bee answered in a series of beeps. The humans, save for Raf, stared at the yellow bot blankly.

“It’s a proximity sensor,” Raf translated helpfully. “Someone’s up top.”

“It’s Agent Fowler,” Ratchet supplied, watching the computer screens. Lauren could make out a footage of what looked like a man stepping out from a helicopter.

"I thought we were the only humans who knew about you guys?" Jack looks around at the bots, confused.

"Special Agent Fowler is our designated liaison to the outside world as he tends to visit only when there are… issues," Optimus says. "It may be best for you to not meet him at this time."

Lauren frowned. Of course, it makes total sense that the US Government knows about the existence of the autobots. She wondered what else have they been hiding. Jasper, after all, is only a few miles away from Lincoln County, where the infamous Area 51 is. And what about the UFO sightings in Roswell? New Mexico was less than a thousand miles from Jasper, Nevada, and the Skinwalker Ranch in Utah was just about five hundred miles north west or so…

She winced inwardly. Barely a few hours into… whatever this is, is slowly turning her into a conspiracy theorist. Her fingers itched for a cigarette.

“Fowler’s almost here. Hide!” Arcee urged them, and they all scurried under to hide under the staircase.

There was a faint hiss of a door sliding open, followed by angry footsteps that reverberated on the steel floor. Lauren strained her ears to listen as this Agent Fowler ranted at Optimus about what happened the previous night. It was rougher than what she heard from the news, and the only good thing was that no one died.

Jack then risked taking a peek to see what this Agent looks like. In an effort to pull him back to hiding, Lauren was able to sneak a look as well. She was half expecting him to look like one of those men in black suits, maybe even wearing a pair of dark, shiny, wraparound glasses. She was disappointed to see that Fowler was wearing an ill-fitting suit and a too-short tie that reaches only at the top of his stomach. There wasn’t even a pair of black Ray-Bans clipped on his shirt...

If they were gonna be liaison to aliens, at least do it with style!

“...Then it’s time to wake up the _Pentagon_ ,” She hears Fowler argue.

Her breath hitched in her throat. If Pentagon knows… it’s only a matter of time before all these gets found out by the general public. If that happens...

"Hear me Agent Fowler, we are your best, possibly your _only_ defence against the Decepticon threat." Optimus said with a hint of a growl.

“Says you,” Fowler answers back sharply.

"Hey fleshy,” Bulkhead calls out. “Did anyone get splattered on that freeway? Team Prime knows _when_ to use force-" He grabbed something by the computer terminal, "-And how _much_ to use." He grits out, crushing the item for effect. The item, whatever it was, exploded in sparks, with a giant machine claw clattering loudly to the ground.

“Bulkhead I _needed_ that!” Ratchet cries out in frustration, making vague, equally frustrated motions with his arms.

“Enough,” Optimus chided.

Bulkhead managed to look sheepish, putting the broken item back where he picked it up.

Lauren’s hand flew to her mouth quickly to stifle a laugh as she watched Ratchet grumpily sulk back to work on something on the computer, tapping away while muttering under his breath. It was partially amusing to watch this obviously sleep-and-caffeine-deprived man berate robots that could, if they really wanted, leave him like a tomato stain on the floor. But they wouldn’t. Well, she thinks maybe Ratchet is the one to most likely do so. But he probably wouldn’t because of Optimus.

Fowler left soon after, but not before issuing a thinly-veiled threat to the Autobot leader. The man looked like he’s ready to pop a vein. Lauren has half a mind to have the bots give him a longer tie.

\--

Bulkhead was asked to bring out an old couch- courtesy of the previous tenants- from the storage room at the other end of the silo, and Miko volunteered to go with him.

And by volunteered, Lauren heard her call out, “Wait for me, Bulk!” before leaping off of the railings. Panic flashed on Bulkhead’s face as he dashed to practically snatch Miko mid-air and place her securely on his shoulder.

Meanwhile, Raf worked with Bee to set up a television set. They were given what Ratched had called their ‘human corner’, located well within the ‘bots line of sight.

Jack and Lauren moved to sides since they weren’t given anything to do. She finished her her phone from deep inside her bag, fully expecting to see _‘Message Inbox Full’_ flash on the tiny screen, but by some miracle, there wasn’t even one unread message notification, nor was there any for missed calls.

There were no bars.

“Um… Ratchet,” She hesitantly calls out to the bot working in front of the terminal system. He grunted in acknowledgement. She held out her phone to him. “There are no bars… and I kinda need to call my coach about missing today’s practice?”

The ‘bot rolls his eyes at her. “These silo walls isolate _all_ radio waves. It’s a security precaution so the Decepticons won’t find us."

“Like a faraday cage?”

“In a way,” Ratchet mumbles, his full attention on the computer screen.

“What’s a faraday cage?” Jack whispered to her, furrowing his brows.

“I’m not super sure myself, but it’s pretty much this cage-thing that blocks electromagnetic fields,” Lauren answered with a bored flick of her wrist. She looked back at Ratchet who was currently typing away at a rather intense pace. “I don’t think you guys will say yes if I ask you to put it down for a sec? Just so I could call my parole officer of a coach?”

“Not if you want the decepticons to locate our base,” Ratchet answers gruffly.

“Mhm, fair enough.” Lauren shrugs, putting her phone back inside her bag. She decides not to bother the grumpy mech-bot after that, sitting cross-legged just beside Jack.

Jack smiles at her. “You seem to take all these kinda well,”

Lauren snorts, stretching her legs straight across the floor. “Oh, _trust_ me, I’ve scheduled an existential crisis followed by an emotional breakdown later at around-” She checks the silver watch around her wrist, “...10.”

Jack laughs, then quickly covers his mouth with his hand when he saw that she had an eyebrow raised at him.

“Glad you think that having my perception of reality broken is funny, Darby.” She said, trying to put on an annoyed face but it sooner broke into a rather goofy, much more genuine smile.

“No- I- sorry,” The boy said in between laughter. “Sorry. I didn’t mean to laugh at you.”

Her laugh was softer than his. “Yeah you did. But that’s like, fine. I mean-,” Lauren turns her palms upwards, gesturing at the bots in front of them. “Like, how does one react, to all ...that? You know?”

“ _Blasted_ earth _tech_!” Ratchet growled, making the pair jump in their seats. He turns to the others and said, calmer this time: “Cliffjumper’s signal popped back online.”

Bulkhead and Miko returned just in time, with the green bot holding the couch between his fingers like it weighed nothing. Which for him, it probably does. Miko was happily balancing herself high on his shoulder.

“Who’s Cliffjumper?” The girl asked, but the question was left unanswered.

“How is that possible?” The Prime approached the terminal, looking at the screen himself.

"It _isn't_.” Ratchet insists. “Another bug, the system’s chock-full of them."

"If there’s _any_ chance Cliff’s alive..." Arcee trails off, looking at Optimus expectantly.

Optimus nods at her. "Ratchet, prepare sickbay. We may need it."

"Hey!" Miko calls out. Optimus looks back at her. "What can we do?"

Lauren squinted. Is there a mask on Optimus’ face? She was pretty sure she saw him earlier with a mouth… maybe it’s like battle gear or something?

“Remain with Ratchet,” Optimus says sternly, voice slightly muffled, but nonetheless, carries a certain finality that certainly leaves no room for any objection.

“Awww…” Miko deflates, pouting.

 

Lauren’s attention, however, was fully focused on what’s in front of her. An arpeggio of low-humming static, followed by a bright vortex of blueish-green light opened from what had been a bare corner of the silo. “ _Holy shit…_ ” She breathed, tightening her grip on the handrails of the platform they were on.

Optimus ordered that they roll out, and one by one, the Autobots transformed into their vehicle forms and rode off into the light, leaving nothing but the echoes of their engines against the low humming static.

“What just… happened?” Jack blurts out, sounding slightly out of breath.

"I transported them to the designated coordinates via the groundbridge." Ratchet answers flatly.

"What's a ground bridge?" Raf asks, blinking up at the remaining bot.

Ratchet sighs, shaking his head. "A scaled-down version of spacebridge technology," He answers, carefully enunciating each word. “Since we don’t currently possess the means or the energon required for intergalactic travel.”

Something about Ratchet’s tone sounding just so tired… besides, the feeling of being somewhere you don’t want to be was all too familiar to her. “So you’re stuck here. On Earth.” Lauren says softly.

“With the likes of _you_ , yes,” Ratchet replies.

“ _With the likes of you_ ?” She echoes, frowning at his tone. “What’s _that_ supposed to mean?” She challenges, raising her chin to meet his eyes, crossing her arms against her chest defensively. Just when she’s starting to feel a little… emotional tug towards this guy. Jerk.

“I was just _saying_ that we’re trapped here with humans,” He retorts, meeting her eyes. “Must you always be so antagonistic?”

“ _You’re_ antagonistic,” She huffs, more out of sheer pettiness than actual anger. She plopped down to a nearby chair beside a smaller control system, fishing out her cell phone from her bag once again.

\--

Ratchet sighs tiredly, continuing to explain how the groundbridge works to Raf. At least one of the humans seemed genuinely interested with learning. The small boy seemed delighted that the Groundbridge works on humans.

Nevermind that there had been no prior testing done. But with their presence- and of course, consent, maybe he could conduct a few tests..?

"You mean I could just… shoot on over and visit my parents in Tokyo?" Miko asks hopefully.

“Within moments," He confirmed brightly, leaning in closer to her. "In fact, allow me to send you there immediately, all-” His turned his head slightly to look at all of them, then, kept his gaze settled on the older femme, sitting with her legs crossed. “- _four_ of you."

"Watch it, Ratchet. I’ll have Lauren here make you cry like she does to the kids at school,” Miko warned in a sing-song voice.

“Wait, are you talking about Abby Miller?” Raf asked. “She missed history class ‘cause she locked herself in the girl’s comfort room for an hour after gym. Her friends say Lauren said… um… things to her.”

“No, I’m pretty sure it was Carrie Porters,” Miko shook her head. “Didn’t you see her run home crying yesterday?”

Lauren rolled her eyes, not bothering to look up from her phone. “They deserve it.” She says simply.

“Deserve what, being made fun of?” Jack prods. “I thought you were starting to be nice.”

“I don’t _have_ to explain myself to you, Darby.”

Miko shrugged, leaning closer to Jack to stage-whisper,  “She’s a bully. Making people cry is all she knows.”

“Wait! I remember you _now_ ,” Lauren gasps, snapping her fingers for effect. “You’re that friendless exchange student from Japan, aren’t you?”

The younger girl’s face turned beet red. “W-what?!”

“You know, I heard no one likes you because you’re annoying? Nobody even wants to sit with you in the cafeteria.” Lauren adds pleasantly, puts on the biggest fake smile she can muster. “They also said that your parents sent you here, _in_ Jasper, because they can _not_ deal with you anymore. Is that true, Miko?”

“ _Jesus_ , Lauren! That’s enough!” Jack cries out, walking closer to Miko and putting a comforting arm around her. He tries to ignore that she was shaking like a leaf as he ran a soothing hand up and down her back. “Leave Miko alone.”

This was _too_ easy. "Oh, _I_ don’t need to. Not when everybody already does." Lauren winks sweetly at the younger girl.

Miko gapes at her.

Opens her mouth, as if to say something. She closes it.

Her chin wobbles.

Lauren tilts her head ever so slightly, and smirks.

Miko can no longer hold her tears back. She runs past all of them, the sound of her boots hitting the steel staircase masks the sound of her sobs.

“What’s wrong with you?” Jack mutters, shooting her a disapproving look before taking after Miko.

She just smiles when Raf shoots her a scathing look before running after Jack.

 

\--

 

Ratchet honestly wasn’t sure what just happened.

Plenty of what passed as “entertaining” Earth media have shown that adolescent femmes wearing the same kind of covering Lauren does were supposed to be the mean cheerleader archetype. The kind of attitude she had displayed seemed to play into that role perfectly. But that doesn’t mean he’s supposed to agree with it, Earth customs or not. Still, it all happened too quickly before he could stop her.

And now poor Miko was somewhere inside the base, leaking fluids out of her human optics.

“Was that really necessary?” Ratchet says, frowning. “You’ve upset her. She did not do anything to insult you or offend you!”

“Oh, but am I _not_ a bully? Was I _not_ just doing- what did she say it was- _ah_ , all that I know?” Lauren says in an overly shocked voice, theatrically placing a hand over her intake- mouth. The fact that her heart rate stayed the same means this must be something she does regularly.

Ratchet had never felt his age more. “And you’re not going to apologize?”

“For what?” Lauren asks blankly. “She _did_ say I’m a bully.”

“She said you made other children from your school cry.”

 

“You wanna know why those girls cried, Ratchet?" She didn't wait for him to answer. "I _made_ them cry because an advanced class group assignment issued a month before its due-date was given _as_ a group assignment _for_ a _reason_. You have to do proper research, you have to do a thorough market analysis. You have to do a 500-respondent survey. To top that off, I _have_ other classes. I have cheer practice every day after school. I have student council duties-,” She continues, and

Ratchet notices the sudden increase in her heartbeat.

“-I had to redo the entire paper, _by myself_ , three days before the deadline, because _they_ did their parts wrong. Getting a grade less than an A on that paper would have costed me _my_ scholarship. _They_ almost cost me my shot _out_ of this stupid town. That’s why _I_ made them cry.”

The medic didn’t quite know how to answer that. The human girl was still fuming; her hands, clutched tightly into fists, were shaking. Being a scholar himself, he understood how difficult it was to rise up to the ranks and get into a good university. There was something about the human femme that reminded him of... well, he didn't think that she'd turn out as that former gladiator did. At the very least, he hoped to Primus she wouldn't.

“Is there somewhere I can smoke?” It was obvious that Lauren was trying to be civil. Her voice was still a bit strained but she had calmed down significantly. “I need to get some air and I don’t know if you’ll have some sort of reaction to nicotine and tobacco.”

Ratchet raised an optical ridge. “Inhaling nicotine would be the complete opposite of getting some air, and is severely harmful to hum-”

“You’re a robot doctor, not a human one.” She snaps, interrupting him. “Tell me, _is_ there somewhere I can smoke, or not?”

Ratchet narrows his optics down at the girl. “No there _isn’t_.”

She glares back before picking up her bag to march off… somewhere. Ratchet does not particularly care at the moment.

Not when error signs popped all across his terminal screen, accompanied by that infernally irritating chime.

\--

Lauren finds the boys standing guard outside a restroom, an off-white door with a blue, dress-wearing stick figure on it. Jack and Raf didn’t look happy to see her.

Yelling out her frustrations to Ratchet had been quite therapeutic, if she was being honest. She didn’t know if he actually understood what she ranted about, but it seemed to have done the job. Still, being aggravated just made her want for a cigarette all the more intense.

“What are you doing here?” Jack mutters.

“I don’t- I- I _want_ to say sorry. To her.” She replies. “What I said, while true-”

_“Really?”_

“-Were totally uncalled for.” She finishes. 

“Well, she locked herself in there…” Raf sighed.

Lauren rolls her eyes and plucks a couple of bobby pins from her hair. “Move.” She orders, jerking her head a little bit, and both Raf and Jack stood up from their posts on either sides of the door and stood behind her. She kneels down, bents one of the bobby pins, and sticks it on the bottom part of the lock, turning it slightly to the left.

“What are you-”

“Raf, you’re good at computers, right?”

“Wh-what? Uh, kinda? Why?” Raf sounded a bit startled.

She continues to pick the lock on the door, narrowing her eyes in concentration. “I think Ratchet could use your help with the outdated human computer stuff. And Jack could be your assistant or something.”

“Oh. Okay.”

She hears his footsteps fade, but Jack’s presence was still glaring even when she can’t see him. The door then makes an audibly satisfying _‘click’_ , and she was unable to stop herself from letting out a triumphant,

_“Ha!”_

“Did you really just pick the lock to talk to Miko?” Jack asked, mouth turned down at the corners.

“What, like she’s gonna open the door for someone who literally tore at her obvious parental issues? Use your head, Jack.” She straightened up and pushed the door inwards. “You obviously are bad at catching hints.”

“Hints?”

“I want to talk to Miko alone, that’s why I sent Raf to help with the Doc-bot. I was hinting that you go with him,”

“So the computer problem. That was a lie?”

“What? No! Doc-bot mentioned some software bugs earlier, and the computer acted up just before I left him.”

“O-oh,” Jack scratched at the back of his head.

“Yeah, now go!” She flicked a hand to him in a _shooing_ manner. “I need to talk to Miko alone.”

“You’re not gonna make her cry again, are you?”

Lauren shoots him one baleful look before closing the door.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> tenses are still all over the place. maybe some run on sentences too??
> 
> she misheard them that's why she thought they were decepticors. idk she's dumb.
> 
> picking locks just to talk to people is creepy. i know nothing about faraday cages.  
> most importantly: i do not condone any hate towards miko nakadai. if you hate miko you will have to fite me.  
> that means you too, lauren. jerk.

**Author's Note:**

> my tenses are all over the place. whoops. MySpace was still cool in 2010, right?
> 
> guess what the chapter title means, i guess? also i forgot that Jasper High is actually Memorial High. Memorial for what? idek, man.


End file.
